Tag / moog

Last night i picked up an Amplitude iRig from Best Buy (about $40). It wasn’t too long until I had some old gear going through any music Apps that allowed input. The photo above shows a Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-110 into the Moog Filtatron app. iRig works as advertised and I was very impressed with Filtatron. I think that Moog hired some good coders because it sounds right. I also think it was smart of them to release this on touch devices and not as a plug-in that you would have use a mouse with. This thing begs to be played with. The feedback and tape delay effects are great. I tried to plug a Shure SM58 directly into the iRig but I think I need a pre-amp to get my signal much hotter before it will be of any use.

I really think Bob Moog’s kind nature is playing a much a role in the success of his after death business and events as the fact that his instruments are amazing. Make sure to visit The Bob Moog Foundation, Moog Music and the Moogfest website.

“Moogfest 2010 was a three-day festival celebrating the innovative spirit of Bob Moog. It took place Halloween weekend, October 29-31, in Asheville, NC.” – charleston scene

Moog Music is about to release an iPhone/iPad App called Filatron. It’s a Sampler with a Filter, LFO, Feedback Generator, Delay, XY Pad and Moog GUI. You can also use the mic in for live input. Like the recent Minimoog Voyager XL I have mixed feelings on this release. On one hand Moog should be applauded for moving itself somewhat into the future. On the other hand it goes against the analog purity that was Bob Moog design. I guess it’s good we can have both.

Moog VoyagerXL. Is this real or a Photoshop? Matrixsynth says $4995. Here’s the post where people are discussing this monster: moogmusic.com/forum/9853

“Looks slightly photoshopped–but perhaps only to correct colors for posting to the web….To that point, I think that this thing looks real. Nothing jumps out at me as indicating that it’s polyphonic. But it does appear to have something like a ribon controler between the keyboard and the control panel! In all It looks like a Voyager with extended patch capabilities–something that expands the Voyager’s playability further towards the modular synthesis roots on which the original Minimoog was based. This could be quite interesting.” Jaguarfooger

If you can’t afford a pretty Moog Etherwave Plus ($519) and you still want to sound like Portishead (I know it wasn’t a real Theramin) maybe Thereminator (iTunes link) for the iPhone will do the trick for you. It’s $3 and has over 200 five star ratings.

“The theremin, originally known as the aetherphone / etherophone or termenvox / thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. The controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas which sense the position of the player’s hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.” – Wikipedia.org

A very pretty ash wood and jade green backlit Minimoog Voyager playing some drum sounds. $3,000 for one short real analog and fast envelope drum zap? You bet! Ok yeah we can multitrack these days.

“If you want THE Moog sound, this is it. Period. This has Bob Moog’s legendary synthesizer design expertise in its circuits. Say no more. It sounds amazing, looks amazing, and feels amazing. There is no substitute.” – moogmusic.com

Oh pretty thing there you are. Sweetwater has an exclusive on a special edition Moog Little Phatty Stage II. Besides it’s pretty rear it has a Control Voltage output modification pre-installed at the Moog factory. Analog sequencer bassline fun is on the menu. This thing has CV, Midi and USB! I’m glad the economy is in the tanker because these are $1500. Do you want one too?

“You can also connect it directly to a computer running the Little Phatty Editor/Librarian. MIDI Clock Sync allows you to synchronize the LFO and arpeggiator rate to your MIDI sequencer, drum machine or software. Sample and hold, triangle, square, sawtooth and ramp wave modulations can now be perfectly timed with your rhythm track. With the pre-installed CV Output module, you also get CV output for the gate (0V – +5V), pitch (1V per octave), volume envelope (0V – 5V), filter envelope (0V – 5V), and off of the mod bus at a variable voltage.” – sweetwater.com

Novamusik is selling a special version of the Moog Voyager called the “NE”. I think it’s the best looking version of the best looking synth out there. They come in several colors with white-washed cabinets, matching backlighting, matching colored rocker switches and matching capped jack panels. I like the Electric NE above and in a close second the Solar NE below. You can see the other colors at the Novamusik site: click here

They will get you for $3,295. How many weeks pay gets you one? For more info: www.moogmusic.com

Here’s a quick reminder to all rock bands out there to please mix your synthesizers loudly. Don’t they sound nice in the example above? Another great example of rock loud synths in action is Granddady’s AM 180: click here